The invention relates in general to recoil reduction in weapons and in particular to recoil reduction in small and medium caliber weapons.
Traditional weapons may include an operating group having, for example, a bolt carrier and its subcomponents. The operating group recoils toward the user in order to cycle the weapon. Typically, the operating group may impact a surface at the end of its stroke. The impact may cause a “kick” that may be felt by the user. In some instances, many rounds of ammunition may be fired by an individual in a short period of time. The kick of the weapon may be painful or harmful to the user, particularly when using semi-automatic or automatic weapons. Many devices and methods have been used to minimize or eliminate kick. Some of these devices are not be desirable because they add too much weight to the weapon or are too costly.
Conventional methods for mitigating weapon recoil include muzzle brakes, breech venting, improved buttstock designs, improved buffer designs and bolt/slide designs that redirect bolt momentum. Because both gas venting momentum and operating group momentum may contribute to recoil, conventional recoil mitigation methods may, at best, only partially mitigate recoil. Partial mitigation of recoil may occur because the conventional methods do not address both the momentum produced by venting gases and the momentum produced by the operating group. Thus, a need exists for an apparatus and method to mitigate recoil caused by both gas venting momentum and operating group momentum.
There is a long-felt and unsolved need for an effective recoil reduction apparatus that adds little or no weight to a weapon and is relatively inexpensive. This need is particularly great for automatic and semi-automatic weapons.